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Metro exploring two spots at Nashville fairgrounds for MLS stadium

More than four months after Mayor Megan Barry announced she wants a future Major League Soccer stadium in Nashville to go at the city's fairgrounds, her administration still hasn't decided where on the site the stadium would be built.

Metro exploring two spots at Nashville fairgrounds for MLS stadium

Will Major League Soccer award Nashville an expansion franchise? We will know sometime in the coming months. Let's compare Music City with the other 10 wannabe MLS cities.
Dave Ammenheuser / The Tennessean / Wochit

More than four months after Mayor Megan Barry announced she wants a future Major League Soccer stadium in Nashville to go at the city's fairgrounds, her administration still hasn't decided where on the site the stadium would be built.

Meanwhile, the mayor's office now says they are hoping for a stadium financing proposal to be ready this fall after initially circling June.

Barry's Chief Operating Officer Rich Riebeling said Metro is exploring two potential locations at the 117-acre fairgrounds property for a stadium that would be constructed if Nashville lands an MLS expansion franchise.

Fairgrounds site for stadium 'a work in progress'

He said one spot under consideration is the vacant parking lot area north of the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway near Walsh Road and Nolensville Pike. This is the area that was most widely discussed when Barry announced in January that she hoped to bring MLS to Nashville and make the fairgrounds the home of an MLS stadium.

Riebeling said the city is also looking at the elevated portion of the fairgrounds to the west of the speedway, closer to Bransford Avenue, where existing halls and fairgrounds building are located. He said constructing the stadium there would probably require the demolition and reconstruction of some fairgrounds buildings, but wasn't able to say which.

"Where exactly the stadium could be located on there is still a work in progress," he said. "It's one of those two locations. There's pros and cons to both, costs associated with both, and that's what has to be determined."

Barry has said she remains committed to keeping the auto-racing speedway, state fair and other existing functions at the fairgrounds intact, allowing them to coexist with the new soccer stadium. Riebeling said that commitment hasn't changed.

In the mayor's recently proposed 2017-18 capital improvements budget, Barry's administration has listed $150 million in proposed revenue bonds for a new municipal soccer facility. It marks an increase over the $50 million earmarked for a soccer stadium in last year's capital improvements budget.

This six-year capital budget doesn't represent a formal funding proposal, but serves as a placeholder for possible consideration next year for a soccer stadium paid for with city assistance.

Barry in January discussed a goal of presenting a stadium financing plan by the end of June, but Riebeling said the hope is to now have a proposal this fall.

He said negotiations with the Nashville MLS2Nashville Steering Committee, which is led by Nashville businessman John Ingram, are still ongoing.

Nashville MLS group says they are making progress on stadium front

In a statement, committee spokesman Clint Brewer said they are pleased with talks.

“We are making steady progress on our stadium plan, and we will have more details to discuss later in the year," he said. "The timeline set forth by the Mayor’s office works well with our process.”

Nashville is one of 12 cities competing for four expansions spots that MLS Commissioner Don Garber said the league hopes to fill by 2020. The league plans to announce the first two cities this fall and the next two at an unspecified time.

In a move that aligned Nashville's pro soccer entities, Ingram in April purchased the rights to be controlling owner of Nashville Soccer Club, the expansion United Soccer League team set to begin play next year.

Securing a stadium plan is considered a prerequisite for cities that are in the hunt for an MLS team. St. Louis, once a leading contender, suffered a setback last month when citizens voted down a stadium proposal at the polls via referendum.

Metro evaluating how soccer stadium works with other fairgrounds improvements

Barry's administration this fall plans to begin work on a new $6 million parks plan at the fairgrounds that will transform 46 acres of floodway and floodplain property at the fairgrounds into new open space, greenways and recreational soccer fields.

The possibility of demolishing existing buildings for a soccer stadium comes as Barry and the Metro Council last year pumped $12 million in the fairgrounds to fix up dilapidated buildings.

"Some buildings would have to be redone," Riebeling said. "That's sort of the analysis. We're getting read to fix them up. Does it make sense to fix them up if we tear them down?"

A stadium proposal from the city would need to go before the Metro fair board, the Nashville Sports Authority and the Metro Council for approval. Barry has said she wants a "private-public partnership."